Filmmaker Roberta Grossman (“Who Will Write Our History”) will join Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland (“Europa Europa“) for a webinar co-hosted by Taube Center Warsaw and Warsaw Jewish Film Festival Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. PT.
“From Behind the Camera: Polish Jewish Narratives” will be moderated by Shana Penn, executive director of Taube Philanthropies, and will recognize both the many accolades of both Grossman and Holland.
Holland, one of the most celebrated Polish filmmakers and directors made her debut with the film, “Provincial Actors.” It earned her the International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980. Holland’s work often reflects her Jewish and Catholic roots, dealing with issues of faith, mysticism and humanity. Grossman also is well established in the Polish film industry and has written, directed and produced more than 40 hours of film. She often explores Jewish history and social justice in her projects.
This past October, Grossman was honored with the Taube Philanthropies 2020 Global Jewish Peoplehood Award. The award honored Jewish men and women who have worked to foster pride in Jewish identity and heritage for new generations, making a uniquely Jewish contribution to global culture.
Grossman was recognized for her ground-breaking feature-length documentaries made on Jewish historical subjects, which shed light on important 20th century histories that were otherwise little known to a multi-generational public.
Currently, she’s co-producing “Vishniac,” a feature documentary about photographer Roman Vishniac. Also in development is a film with Dr. Susannah Heschel about her father Abraham Joshua Heschel. With the support of the Righteous Person Foundation and in partnership with longtime Sundance Film Festival lead programmer Caroline Libresco, Grossman is developing a new fund for Jewish films that will launch in 2021.
“Roberta considered pursuing a doctorate and embarking on an academic career, but ultimately regarded filmmaking—and especially documentaries—as a more effective way to engage with historical subjects and convey history to broad and diverse audiences,” Tad Taube, founder and chairman of Taube Philanthropies said in a statement to the Journal. “We applaud her decision to share these compelling 20th century Jewish narratives through the widely accessible art form of feature-length documentary film.”
Notable among Grossman’s films are “Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh”which won the audience award at 13 Jewish film festivals, was broadcast on PBS, nominated for a Primetime Emmy and and shortlisted for an Academy Award. Grossman also created “Hava Nagila: The Movie,” a feature-length documentary with Sophie Sartain, which traces the cultural journey of the popular song, “Hava Nagila,” from Ukraine to YouTube.
To register to the virtual event, click here.
